On Monday 26 October, the land transport group of the Council of the European Union will examine a series of suggestions from the German Presidency aimed at amending the EU Council’s negotiating mandate adopted in June (see EUROPE 12513/37) in respect of the proposal to make 2021 the European Year of Rail.
The document forwarded by the Presidency to delegations, a copy of which EUROPE has obtained, states that these suggestions were drawn up in response to the position adopted last week by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12580/23).
On the basis of the European Parliament proposals, the German authorities detailed “possible compromises” and set specific limits.
Budget. Of the funds earmarked for the European Year of Rail, the European Parliament is proposing that EUR 16 million be made available for the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022 – compared with EUR 8 million for the period 2020-2021 in the European Commission proposal.
In addition, MEPs would like to see initiatives put in place to ensure that EU funds allocated to recovery efforts in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are used to expand and improve Europe’s rail infrastructure.
If it follows the suggestions of the German Presidency, the EU Council should veto these two proposals.
Cross-border cooperation. Among the other European Parliament proposals that the Presidency proposes to revisit, is the amendment calling for improved cross-border cooperation between infrastructure managers — considered to be unclear — and the amendment calling for theEuropean Year of Rail to be used to promote the completion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
This is a somewhat sensitive subject on which Member States have been repeatedly called to order in recent months (see EUROPE 12552/3, 12507/18).
The EU Council could furthermore oppose the European Parliament amendment calling for the promotion of the existing overnight train network. The Presidency, however, is of the opinion that the reference in one of the recitals to the growing interest in overnight trains is sufficient.
Connectivity index. On the other hand, the German Presidency proposes to support Parliament’s proposal that the European Commission consider the creation of a “rail connectivity index”. This index would make it possible to identify areas where investment in the rail sector is particularly needed (see EUROPE 12579/13).
A pre-requisite for this support is nevertheless introduced: coupling the proposal with the EU Council’s request for a study on the creation of a “European label” to “promote goods and products transported by rail”.
The co-legislators are expected to meet for the first time by the end of the month, in advance of a second trilogue scheduled for November. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)